Lyichir

This latest batch is great as well! If you're taking requests/suggestions, I'd love to see Aang and Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Not that I'm denying that both themes will return at some point (I think it's practically inevitable for both), but I don't think CMF representation is really a good way to judge whether a theme is ready for a comeback/debut. It's true that sometimes the CMFs include figures from popular past and present themes, but I've never really noticed that any of the figs seem to have been designed to foreshadow future themes, and I also get the impression that sometimes they're also used as an outlet for figs that couldn't really sustain a theme of their own or otherwise don't fit neatly into any current themes. For instance, there have been a great many Western-related figs in the CMFs, but so far there's no Western revival in sight and hasn't been for a long time. There have also been plenty of figs related to themes Lego has never done before and may never do (Roman history, Greek mythology, the American Revolution, etc.).

Personally I like the variety we've gotten with vehicles stylized after either the knights' weapons or their animal symbols. With that in mind, I certainly wouldn't mind seeing animal-themed vehicles for characters who haven't gotten them (Aaron, Clay, Axl, and Macy), and weapon-themed vehicles for characters who haven't gotten those (Lance and Axl). Of course, it shouldn't need to be limited to that either—one of my favorite vehicles this year was Axl's Tower Carrier, which isn't based on either a weapon or an animal but rather is a pure fusion of Castle and Space motifs. Also, if we do get any sort of water-based sets, either in the spring or summer, it's very simple to create boats with shield motifs (including with floating boat hulls).

That's weird, since even if you lack gems it shouldn't force you to equip one. Are there no clickable icons anywhere on the screen? It's possible that it wants you to go to the workshop to give you the tutorial for creating a gem (if you haven't ever done so before), in which case you should click on the pickaxe/brick icon. But that's my only idea, since having gone through that tutorial before it lets me proceed to battle, create gems, or even go back from that screen without forcing me into anything. It's entirely possible that you've encountered some sort of bug.

http://cache.lego.co...1&fmt=png-alpha For the other sets, swap the five-digit set number (75119) in the URL for the number of the set you want to see. For the alternate pics, add "_alt1", "_alt2", and so forth (without quote marks) after the five-digit set number. This is generally the easiest way to get the biggest versions of set pics, in some cases even before they're visible on the Lego shop itself.

I'm not seeing additional pictures. For that matter, the images for K-2SO and the Death Trooper seem to be swapped. EDIT: I did find them by going to where the pictures themselves are hosted in Lego's cache. They look nice!

Oh man, you can be sure that Benny will provide some great new retro Space set for the Lego Movie sequel (assuming, of course, that he returns as a major character). That said, it would not be impossible for us to see another Lego Space theme (or references in other themes) in the meantime. And as far as parts are concerned next year should be great for Spacers whether or not we get a dedicated Space theme as well, between the continuation of Nexo Knights, The Lego Batman Movie (for which we've already seen at least one great-looking Trans. Yellow windscreen/canopy), and The Lego Ninjago Movie.

I guess Space Police 3 would be mine. It's the last Space theme I collected with any sort of regularity, in part due to all the neat references to both Lego City and the history of Lego Space. Alien Conquest and Galaxy Squad were good too, but I never felt any drive to collect those beyond a few sets. Wasn't a huge fan of Mars Mission. And then you get back into the classics. I never collected any of those comprehensively but of the classic themes my favorite would probably be Spyrius. A lot of the others from my childhood (like Exploriens, UFO, and Life on Mars) have not aged nearly so well.

It's possible, but I wouldn't consider it inevitable or anything like that. Lego's budget for those sorts of cons is limited so they can only split it so many ways before their overall presence becomes less impressive at each. Also, the duality of SDCC and NYCC provides a lot of coverage of the things Lego is interested in promoting: One is on the West Coast and the other on the East Coast; one takes place in the early summer and can promote that summer and fall's new releases, while the other is in the fall and can promote new themes for the upcoming year. Adding a third convention situated between the two both geographically and chronologically might be considered superfluous. If Lego were to add to their convention presence they might instead prefer to focus on other countries and regions entirely, like their recent presence at Fan Expo Canada.

I don't know if your daughters outgrowing the sets is a good indication that the theme's overall popularity is waning. Themes like Friends and City are basically designed with the knowledge that most kids will in fact grow out of them and move on to other interests, just as other kids will grow into them—it's the same reason there are new Police and Fire assortments in City each year that will be the "first" for a new generation of kids. Friends doesn't rely quite so heavily on staple subthemes but there's still a few categories that are somewhat consistent; models like "dollhouses" and farms/stables are common enough that a kid getting into Friends won't necessarily feel obligated to get the original Olivia's House or Sunshine Ranch when there are newer sets available for purchase.

I think they might care a little more about the anniversary of a successful, ongoing product category than they do about a category that doesn't even get new releases every year and is much less popular than it was in its heyday. No offense to Train fans but even beloved models like the Horizon Express and Emerald Knight have mostly failed to breathe new life into the train subtheme's overall popularity. By comparison, every year brings a new modular building like clockwork and the sets are routinely successful and sought-after. Of course, there's no guarantee that anything special will be done for the anniversary, but I wouldn't put it past Lego to mark the occasion somehow.

Maybe, but I'd think that'd be better suited to Star Lord (and if we were to get any GotG characters, he'd surely be one of them, being the main character of the movie and all).

This is a great review of a great set, but the person you're replying to was talking about the Ultra Stealth Raider, not Cole's Rock Roader. The Ninjago theme has been pretty solid in general this wave, especially when it comes to vehicles. And if this is what we get on short notice when the movie gets delayed a year, I can only imagine what kinds of sets they're planning for when the movie actually comes out...

It's possible that they could do both (like Jake from Adventure Time, who appears as a character in the team pack and a vehicle in the level pack). Of course, Rocket also has his Warbird as a potential vehicle. But what sort of vehicle would Groot get if he came as a character? Not knowing much about the character outside the movies, I don't know what would be best for that.

I don't know about Lego introducing two modulars in a single year. It's possible that the market could bear two modulars in one year, but with the one-a-year formula working out so well for Lego, why risk it? I do think that the tenth anniversary could well end up meriting some sort of commemoration, though. Either a full modular that pays tribute to the series (like a Café Corner update or something meta like a Lego store), or some other, smaller tribute in addition to the annual modular (like another set of mini-modulars).

Can confirm; my family just got it in the mail today.

Lego City Undercover may have been a Wii U exclusive, but neither the Lego City franchise nor any of the characters belong to Nintendo. That's a huge distinction from characters like Mario, Link, Samus, etc. that are wholly owned by Nintendo, or even characters like Pac-Man or Sonic who belong to other companies. Also, consider me skeptical that a new head piece would be sufficient for Pac-Man. His arms attach to the sides of his wide, round body, in a way that a standard torso couldn't really suffice. If he were to be added to the game, I think it'd have to be done with either a custom upper body or even an entirely custom figure design like Slimer or the Angry Birds figs. Even then, I just don't know if Pac-Man would be a good fit for the game. Unlike Sonic, who brings with him a vast universe of characters, vehicles, and settings established over a long series of games, Pac-Man's games have almost always been light on story and don't really offer much along those same lines. Well, firstly I'd love to have some more of Lego's own in-house brands represented. Friends, Elves, Nexo Knights, and Bionicle would be amazing inclusions (though at this point the last of those is more unlikely than ever). Beyond that, I would love to get packs based on Steven Universe and Avatar: The Last Airbender and/or The Legend of Korra (the first of those is most likely being a Warner Bros. property via Cartoon Network).

The tricky part about Nintendo characters is that Nintendo doesn't like their characters appearing on other consoles. So if there were to be an actual character owned by Nintendo in Lego Dimensions, it would have to be made nonfunctional on Xbox and Playstation systems, and I don't know if TT Games is interested in segmenting things that way. Even Supergirl's exclusivity to Playstation starter packs is a timed exclusive to my knowledge, and the figure itself would likely work on any version of the game. Of course, Pac-Man is not owned by Nintendo, so it'd be possible without that sort of limitation... but I'd have to wonder whether he'd be well-suited to Lego or to this sort of game, given his bizarre body type, limited pool of bizarre abilities, and lack of relevant potential mini-builds. If any other third-party Smash alums were to be added, I would think that Mega Man would be a better fit (especially now that characters with their own ability wheels like Finn, Jake, and Chase McCain are being added).

Great review! I have to admit a lot of it went over my head, but just hearing praise of the functionality of this set from an expert Technic builder such as yourself is enough to give me confidence in the quality of the model. The color-coded diagrams were also a fantastic resource, allowing me to better picture the model's functions separate from the overall structure.

These are all fantastic! I'd also tried my hand at some custom BrickHeadz, but yours are much better!

Because most people probably don't look at their own creations and immediately recognize their flaws. That's why for those who aren't good at critiquing their own work (which is not necessarily a universal skill by any stretch of the imagination), getting someone else to critique your work is so helpful. And even then, if they're a kid showing their work to their parents, they might just get more encouragement (which could actually be genuine, since few parents are experts on the ins and outs of Lego design or how competitive a service like Ideas will be).

Wouldn't that just make it so that you only bought during 4x points periods? I know the feeling of only wanting to buy during promotions, but doubling both the promotion and the standard offer wouldn't really change that.

As much as I would adore Elves figures, I don't necessarily see them working with traditional CCBS. First of all, the characters show a LOT of skin compared to most human constraction figures (with most characters wearing sleeveless outfits and short skirts), and I don't know if typical bones and shells would be well-suited for that. Secondly, the characters don't have a lot of variety in terms of body types, lowering the potential for variety in their builds. I do think "buildable dolls" is a market Lego should explore, but I a new system may be necessary. The current CCBS is well-suited to diverse creatures, but I think less so on the sort of "fashion play" that would be necessary for themes like Elves and Friends. I'm not saying that dress able one-piece figures like in Belville and Scala are the solution, but a system for themes like those should ideally be well suited to designing and customizing unique outfits for characters (whether with CCBS, traditional bricks, or even a new system of parts).

The instructions for the mini-builds are all available on the official Lego Dimensions site, for those who don't want to or can't use the in-game instructions.

Ha, now I'm picturing Emily driving through the portal on a motorbike and the Elves' jaws just dropping. :D